Subject: CR invites you to Donut Hr Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 14:14:13 -0400 (EDT) Dear Friends, Prof. C.R.Ramakrishnan is hosting today's Donut Hour. Better known as CR (I have even heard students refering to him as "cram" because of his login id), he is well known for his "getting your hands dirty" kind of assignments. His donutview below, reveals more about him. Since I am away at Baltimore attending a conference today, I don't know what he is getting. So come down to the pit at 3pm to find out. There may not be any reminder at 2:55 as usual, so please try to remember. sincerely, Donut Admin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking through the Donut: A donutview with Prof.C.R.Ramakrishnan ================================================================= Donut Admin (DA): Give me a brief history of yours. Prof. C.R.Ramakrishnan (CR): A.. Brief history, a.. I graduated from BITS Pilani in India with masters in physics and computer science. I wanted to be a physicist but then I found out that I didn't have enough math background to be a physicist. So ended up in computer science. A.., I came to Stony Brook in 89 as a PhD student, I worked for two years before I came for my PhD. And a.., It took me 6 years to get my PhD. For two years, I was a postdoc with Dave Warren. And then in 97 became prof. DA: I see a lot and lot and lot of Stony Brook here. A.., Didn't you at some point of of time got fed up of this place? Didn't wanted to go some where else? CR: A..., It was an option. (pause) But I found that the people I work with here were pretty good, the kind of work I was doing was pretty good, so... DA: Many faculty members advocate that it's good for you to get out of the place from where you did your PhD, so that you grow more. CR: It is in general a good Idea, Yes. (pause) It depends on specific situations too. From my view point I was moving because I was moving areas. I was moving in a kind of virtual sense. But physically I was in the same place. DA: You were here as a student before and you became a faculty. A.., Do you feel any change, I mean, Is there a change in relationship with your faculty members (sic) here after you became a professor? CR: A.., I would think so, Yes. There is always a change in this. The change was more or less gradual. A.., there was nothing.. a.. It was easy enough to make a change, from being student to a faculty. DA: And you don't feel too junior to your professors. CR: No I have always had a colleageal relationship with most people I work with. DA: Have you set any ambitious goals for yourself? Research or otherwise. CR: Nothing extra ordinary. Nothing extra ordinary. I.., Research, Researchwise I would like to have good students publish good things and go to other places. DA: Do you ever think of leaving the academics? CR: Not in near future. Not in near future. I would like to stabilize myself in academia before I leave somewhere. DA: What are your other interests, other than academics? CR: A.., you mean hobbywise? DA: Hobbies or whatever you do when you are not doing computer science. CR: Ha.., what I. I, I like to read quite a bit. I don't really care what I read. A.., I am a big arm chair sports fan. I sit and watch many games. That takes a lot of time. Listen to music, different kinds. DA: Any favourite author? CR: Am favourite authors.. Last few books I have read are from by (sic) Nai Paul (spell?). I don't have any, I don't really treat anybody favourite. There are no favourites (smiles). DA: If you were not in computer science what would you be? CR: If I was not in computer science, I would.. (long pause) I would still probably be a teacher. DA: Ok... So you like teaching... CR: Yeah... DA: Are you married? CR: No, I am not. DA: Any plans? CR: A.., nothing in the horizon. DA: What's your favourite food? CR: Favourite food is... Clealy more exposure to Indian food, so it is more favourite. DA: Right, but I mean, anything particular in Indian? CR: Tough question. Tough question. DA: How did you get used to food here? All kinds of ethnic food.... CR: Ya, I I, I in general like the mexican cuisine and the Italian food. DA: Do you cook here or just eat out? CR: I, I cook quite a bit here. Yes. DA: Where are you living right now? CR: Port Jeff station. DA: Thanks for this donutview. CR: OK! Thanks!